Slow and steady (almost) wins the race

The "Inventions" section of the December 27th, 1919, issue of Scientific American featured a new model of the bicycle invented by Mr. C. H. Clark that seemed rather strange to those who saw it debut at the six-day bicycle race in New York City. Onlookers "were astonished one day at the appearance on the track of a rider, peddling away on a machine whose wheels had apparently shrunk to the size of a small dinner plate [sic]."

The small bicycle rider was able to keep up with the leaders of the race, only having trouble reducing his speed to stay on the inside of the curve when making a turn. While he did not win the race, he made it much more interesting to watch.

According to the article, Mr. Clark paid a visit to the offices of Scientific American with his invention and offered the editor a ride. The editor questioned the inventor about the advantages of his strange looking vehicle, soliciting the following response:

"I did not have to leave the wheel at the curb and invite you down to the street to see it. I brought the machine up with me, not in the freight lift, but in a crowded passenger elevator, and neither the starter or the operator offered the slightest objection."

One can still spot these "city bicycles" today, now made with the advantage of being able to be folded for easier storage.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Mary Karmelek

In 1845 Scientific American magazine made its debut on newsstands and has continued to be published ever since. Now, Nature Publishing Group and Scientific American are working to digitize all past issues of the magazine. Mary Karmelek is in charge of checking over each issue, and in the process she uncovers fascinating, captivating and humorous material buried in the yellowed pages of our past. In this blog she shares the highlights of her discoveries. Additional archival material appears every month in our 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago column.

Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.